Senior Silicon Photonics Designer

nEye.ai; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

nEye.ai in Santa Clara, CA, is seeking an experienced Senior Packaging Failure Analysis Engineer to lead root-cause investigations across silicon photonics, MEMS, and optical packaging. You will own investigations from non-destructive to destructive analyses and guide corrective actions to improve packaging, manufacturing, and supplier processes.

You will build in-house failure analysis capabilities, including cross-sectioning, polishing, SEM/EDS, and related infrastructure, and collaborate with

Qualifications

• PhD required in a related technical field.
• 4–8+ years of hands-on silicon photonics experience in industry.
• Strong microfabrication knowledge and its impact on photonic designs.
• Experience with photonic device experiments and characterization.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead root-cause investigations for complex failures in photonics packaging.
• Collaborate with design and fabrication teams to optimize components and methods.
• Plan and execute non-destructive and destructive analyses (cross-sectioning, SEM/EDS).
• Translate findings into corrective actions for product design and manufacturing processes.
• Build in-house failure analysis capabilities over time.

Skills

Python

Photonic design

Education

PhD in Electrical Eng./Materials Science/Physics/Chemistry

Tools

FDTD

EME

FEM

FIT

Job description

nEye.ai, a well-funded optical switch startup, is poised to revolutionize the future of data centers. nEye’s MEMS-based silicon photonics optical circuit switches (OCS) eliminate critical bottlenecks in AI processing by enabling direct optical connections among thousands of GPUs and memory units. The company's SuperSwitch is an ultra-low power consumption, high radix, compact chip-scale design, offering hyperscale data centers enhanced performance, efficiency, and scalability.

Position Summary

We are seeking a hands-on Senior Senior Packaging Failure Analysis Engineer to lead root-cause investigation of complex failures across our silicon photonics, MEMS, optical packaging, and electronic assemblies. This role will have a particular focus on cross-sectioning bonded components and analyzing material interfaces, including adhesive/epoxy attach, fusion and eutectic bonding, solder interconnects, and hermetic packages. The ideal candidate combines a strong foundation in materials science and interfacial phenomena with deep practical experience in failure analysis, microscopy, analytical characterization, and sample preparation. You will own investigations from initial non-destructive analysis through destructive physical analysis, determine the appropriate characterization technique for each problem, translate findings into actionable root cause and corrective actions, and feed learnings back into product design, packaging, manufacturing, and supplier processes. Over time, this individual may also play a key role in building and expanding in-house failure analysis capabilities, including cross-sectioning/polishing, microscopy, SEM/EDS, and related analytical infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the Senior Engineer when collaborating with other nEye groups to optimize chip design for product system-level requirements
• Driving specific device designs and collaborating on fabrication methodologies
• Designing photonic components and photonic integrated circuits to advance our optical switch technology
• Developing, overseeing, and performing photonic component and system-level testing
• Working cross-functionally with system and fabrication team members to develop improved optical switch capabilities

Required Skills & Qualifications

• PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Applied Physics, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline
• 4-8+ years hands-on experience with Silicon Photonics in an industry setting
• Strong understanding of microfabrication processes and related constraints on photonic component designs
• Strong understanding and proficient experience of photonic component simulation tools such as FDTD, EME, FEM, or FIT
• Strong proficiency in Python
• Experience with photonic integrated circuit layout and photonics foundry tape-out
• Experience with designing and executing detailed photonic device experiments and characterization protocols
• Strong communication skills in collaboration, verbal presentation, and written reports
• Excellent interpersonal, communication (written and oral), and leadership skills

nEye.ai is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Starting salary and title will depend on, and be commensurate with, relevant experience, skills, training, education, market demands, and the ultimate job duties and requirements.